Fury as Commons throws open its doors to Sinn Fein

by GRAEME WILSON, Daily Mail

Furious Conservatives savaged the Government last night for allowing Sinn Fein to claim £430,000 a year to set up offices in the House of Commons.

Leader of the Commons Robin Cook faced a barrage of criticism as he unveiled the plans to give Sinn Fein's four MPs full access to Westminster even though they refuse to swear an oath of allegiance to the Crown.

Former Conservative minister Sir Brian Mawhinney declared: 'What we are talking about here is welcoming into this Palace people whose hands are dirty with the blood of others.'

And Nigel Waterson, whose predecessor as Tory MP for Eastbourne, Ian Gow, was killed by the IRA, asked Mr Cook why Labour was 'proposing to give the benefits, privileges and facilities of this place to some of the people responsible for his murder?'

Mr Gow was one of four sitting MPs killed by republican terrorists during the last three decades, including two other Conservatives - Airey Neave and Sir Anthony Berry - and Ulster Unionist the Rev Robert Bradford.

Former Labour ministers Frank Field and Kate Hoey joined the attack on the Government's plans to give Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Pat Doherty and Michelle Gildernew free access to the Commons.

Mr Field voiced concern about the security implications of such a step, while Miss Hoey said such a concession was not part of the Good Friday agreement.

Despite the protests, Mr Cook made clear the Government was determined to use its massive majority to push the plans through. Mr Doherty had earlier declared that his party would never sit in the Commons. 'We will not take an oath to a British Queen and we will not take our seats in a foreign Parliament,' he said.

Amid the uproar of last night's debate, Mr Cook was forced into retreat on a key part of his defence.

Initially he claimed that MPs who refused to take the oath had full access to the Commons facilities before the former Speaker Betty Boothroyd changed the rules in 1997.

But under pressure from Tory frontbencher Alan Duncan, Mr Cook had to admit that no allowances were paid to these MPs before 1997.

In contrast, Labour's plans will allow each of Sinn Fein's MPs to claim more than £107,000 a year in allowances - £430,000 in total - plus thousands of pounds more in travel expenses. However, they will still not be paid their salary.

Mr Cook also argued that the decision to let Sinn Fein set up offices in the Commons would boost the peace process.

'We are more likely to secure further decommissioning if we demonstrate that we are willing to maintain momentheytum on our side,' he argued.

His stance was condemned by Conservative Northern Ireland spokesman Quentin Davies, who had announced earlier that the Tories were ending the bipartisan approach on Northern Ireland.

He told the Commons the Tories would only contemplate allowing Sinn Fein to have offices in the Commons once the IRA had completely decommissioned, 'but under no circumstances simply as a goodwill gesture, simply as a unilateral concession'.

Mr Davies added the measure was simply 'part of the Government's policy of endless concession and appeasement of Sinn Fein/IRA'.

The Tories also rejected Mr Cook's claim that there was no logic in barring Sinn Fein from the Commons when two of its members were ministers in Northern Ireland's powersharing government.

Mr Davies said Sinn Fein played a full part in Stormont because its members agreed to take the Belfast Assembly's Pledge of Office. However, have always refused to take the Commons oath.

Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble accused ministers of creating a series of 'red herrings' to justify their plans which he warned would create two classes of MPs.

Earlier, Miss Boothroyd had voiced her opposition to Labour's plans on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Referring to her meeting with Mr Adams and Mr McGuinness after her ruling in 1997, she said: 'I explained the position to them, that they either had to take the oath of allegiance or they could not take up their full membership of the House of Commons. I think that should still be the situation.'